


Bouquet

by triedpklove



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Crushes, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Unrequited Love, i am a Pioneer....., wow am i the first to touch laceless and prince/laceless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 04:33:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20700002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triedpklove/pseuds/triedpklove
Summary: The secret language of flowers may protect Prince from knowing Laceless’ feelings towards him, though no flower can hide his worries that Prince won’t love him back.





	Bouquet

“Thank you for letting me attend work with you today, Papa.”

“‘Course, kid. It’s nice that you’re willing to help your old man.”

Laceless stumbles as he makes his way to the garden his dad works at. It’s exactly what you’d imagine the stereotypical mansion garden to look like- rows upon rows of various colors, all evened out with shades of green. Laceless didn’t do much- he just liked to water the flowers, admire their beauty as the droplets glisten in the sun. Occasionally, his dad would let him pick some, though he would be sure to make the difference unnoticeable. Good thing he has a keen eye, it’s a reason he was hired anyways.

After an hour of helping his dad out with catering to the flowers, Laceless gestures to the various flowers, asking to be dismissed to go pick some. 

“Go ahead,” his dad smiled, “You’ve done enough right now. I’ll let you know if I need an extra hand.”

Laceless smiled and headed off to the various beds. He looked around, mainly for specific flowers he needed. “Hmmm… tulips? Maybe some daisies to level it out…” The bouquet in his hand slowly begins to grow with flowers, the assortment consisting of mainly whites, reds, and yellows. 

The sentiment of the bouquet is special- the flowers he picks all represent something. The overall message? Love. Laceless is deep in love, though he doesn’t know how to exactly say it. The secret language of flowers will keep him safe for the time being, thanking his stars his father taught him what each colorful petal means. 

Laceless sneaks off to the entrance of the mansion, the flowers hidden behind his back and he knocks on the door, waiting for a response. He’s dressed in casual wear, wearing a Part-Time Pirate rather than the Milky Eminence Jacket he wears into battle. Everything else remains the same, his Eminence Cuff and White Laceless Dakroniks. 

Behind the door, he hears the voice of the person he wants to see. Prince. His voice gives Laceless a stomach full of butterflies, the calmness of it- mixed with eagerness- is enough to lift him off his feet. He’s truly in love with this boy and every moment he gets to see him fills him with complete joy.

Though, he can hear another voice behind the door, too.

Trying not to overthink, he still remains eager to see his friend. The door creaks open, Prince on the other side. He’s… covered in ink.  _ Has he been practicing…? _ , he thinks to himself,  _ Doesn’t all of Newper practice together? Am I being left out?  _ His mind begins to race as his hearts begin to speed up. 

“Hi, Laceless! I didn’t know you were gonna be here today! What a surprise.” A small smile grows on his face. 

“U-Uhm… yes, what a surprise! I have decided to come with my Papa today, um— I have something for you!”

“Oh, is Laceless here?” Another familiar voice rings from behind, Laceless’ mind going more and more into a frenzy. 

It’s Goggles. Both of them are covered in ink of both their own and each other’s, an exhausted look on both of them. 

“H-Hello, Goggles! I didn’t, um, I did not know you all were practicing today—“

“Huh?” Prince wipes his face, realizing how messy the two had gotten. “Oh! We weren’t practicing. We were just messing around a bit earlier! Y’know, goofin’ off in our practice area. If we were practicing today I totally would’ve let you know, don’t worry.”

Laceless nodded, staring over at Goggles before looking back at Prince. Glances repeat as thoughts begin to spark in his head.  _ Does Prince maybe like Goggles? What if he does? I can’t make a fool of myself in front of them! Gosh, why couldn’t he just be alone?! _

“Laceless?”

Laceless snaps out of his daydream, looking up at Prince. “Mmmhm?” The single response had a faint crack in it. 

“You told me you had something for me.”

“Oh, um, I—“ He backs up, “It’s… noooothing, it is nothing at all. Y-You two should go back to playing! I would not want to, um, interrupt your playdate.” Laceless turns his head away, not wanting to show the obvious tears growing in his eyes.

“...Can you show me later? I’d love to see it.” 

“M-Mayyybe! Maybe so…”

“Sweet, alright! I’m sure you have work to do, so—“ Prince gives Laceless a hug, Laceless hesitating to hug back. “You have fun, okay? We gotta hang out sometime soon!”

“Uh— um, y-yeah… uh… see you!”

The door closes, Laceless grabbing tighter on the stems of his bouquet. He remains at the steps for a moment longer before running to his dad, asking if he could go home early. His father, seeing how visibly upset he was, allowed him. 

The trek to his house involved lots of tears, the flowers he held slowly falling apart as he ran. A trail of flower petals following behind. 

He reaches his house and runs to his room. He knows he shouldn’t be so upset over this, but he can’t help but overthink everything that happens. Prince has shown so much love towards Laceless in the past while they’ve actually gotten to know each other, he’s been so hopeful that he liked him back… 

_ “I guess I’m just not used to all of this yet…,”  _ He thought to himself,  _ “So what if he  _ ** _does_ ** _ like Goggles… I can’t be so awful about it… I gotta keep my friendship with him no matter what…!”  _

His overthinking soon turns into him planning out every single scenario in his mind, great detail in every one. As he plots, he scrolls through his phone. Looking at all of the pictures they’ve taken together, he sighs.  _ It really does seem like he loves me, though… I just need to stay strong, resilient. For my friend. _

Laceless soon ends up calming down, the thought of his love being unrequited remaining in the back of his head, haunting him. He continues to scroll through his phone, a stuffed sea cucumber in his grasp. As he slowly runs his fingers against the protrusions on the plush, he desperately tries to remove the thought from his mind. Dozing off, he’s snapped out of his dissonante state when sudden ticks begin to come from his window. Hopping onto his feet and to his window, he opens the frame and looks out. 

It’s Prince, a handful of pebbles in his hand. It seems he was using them to grab Laceless’ attention.

He’s dressed in a simple Lightweight Cap and an N-Pacer Sweat. His shoes are the same old Milky Enperrials he always wears. He seems a little chilly outside, considering it has gotten pretty late.

“Mr. Prince?! What the h- What are you doing here?!” His shouts are quiet, trying not to disturb anything or anyone nearby. 

“I just wanna talk!”

“Um…alright! Here, um… I’ll let you in!”

Laceless leaves his room and makes his way down his stairs, opening the door for Prince and letting him in. Prince looks around Laceless’ house for a moment before being directed back into Laceless’ room. 

The room is dim, a couple strings of Christmas lights being the only thing illuminating it. It’s neat; desks, shelves, and dressers strewn along the sides, all topped with different knick knacks and tools. The walls are dressed with posters and various dried flowers Laceless has collected from his strolls through the garden. It’s homey.

Prince sits down on the edge of Laceless’ bed, staring him in the eyes. “Are you okay?”

“...Excuse me?”

“I wanted to ask it earlier, but— I didn’t want to embarrass you or anything, and you seemed like you were in a hurry…”

“Oh! Um, it’s… nothing, really. Don’t worry about it.” Laceless fidgets with his sleeves, looking down at the ground.

“But I wanna know! Can’tcha tell your friend?”

“Um… I would, but— I’d much rather not. For your safety!” God, he wishes he could beat himself up right now.  _ Your safety? What the heck does that mean?! _

“Uh…” Prince shrugs, “Alright then. Just know I’m here if you need anyone to talk to, okay?”

“Y-Yeah! Thank you, Mr. Prince…”

“Mhm!” Looking around his room, he pauses for a moment to check the time. “Oh, geez. My bro’s gonna kill me if he doesn’t find me home, so I gotta skedaddle.” Hopping off of Laceless’ bed, he heads for the door. Stopping in his tracks, he turns around, smiling.

“By the way, you’re really bad at hiding things. You gotta make me a bouquet like the one you had again! I’d love to take it.”

“Wh- How did you know?”

“It kept peeking from behind your back, Laceless. When I hugged you, I saw it clear as day. It was beautiful, y’know. You must’ve spent a while on it!”

He gives a small wave before departing, the sound of steps down the stairs followed by the opening and closing of the front door faintly rings throughout the house.

Laceless spends a moment processing what just happened, falling onto his bed and squealing into his sheets.  _ Gosh, I’m such a freaking dummy! Why can’t I just be inconspicuous about one single thing?! _

He sits up in his bed, looking over to his door and sighing.

_ At least he would’ve liked it. _

**Author's Note:**

> BRUHH ok so like i LOVE these two. considering laceless has said like 3 sentences in the manga i REALLY hope i wrote him ok but!! Yes. here they are. Pray for laceless for he is Suffering


End file.
